Characteristics of Hemorrhagic Peptic Ulcers in Patients Receiving Antithrombotic/Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drug Therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Antithrombotic/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) therapies increase the incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The features of hemorrhagic peptic ulcer disease in patients receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were investigated. METHODS: We investigated the medical records of 485 consecutive patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and were diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroduodenal ulcers. The patients treated with antithrombotic agents/NSAIDs were categorized as the antithrombotic therapy (AT) group (n=213). The patients who were not treated with antithrombotics/NSAIDs were categorized as the control (C) group (n=263). The clinical characteristics were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The patients in the AT group were significantly older than those in the C group (p<0.0001). The hemoglobin levels before/without transfusion were significantly lower in the AT group (8.24+/-2.41 g/dL) than in the C group (9.44+/-2.95 g/dL) (p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, the difference in the hemoglobin levels between the two groups remained significant (p=0.0334). The transfusion rates were significantly higher in the AT group than in the C group (p=0.0002). However, the outcome of endoscopic hemostasis was similar in the AT and C groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with hemorrhagic peptic ulcers receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were exposed to a greater risk of severe bleeding that required transfusion but were still treatable by endoscopy.

A Case of an Acute Huge Hemorrhagic Gastric Ulcer after an Endoscopic Mucosal Biopsy / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Although most diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures are performed on an outpatient basis with relatively low risk, complications related with these procedures can occur. The reported complications are cardiopulmonary complications, drug side effects, perforation, hemorrhage and infection. Hemorrhage may occur from the site of biopsy or polyp removal. It is usually minimal and heals spontaneously with or without endoscopic treatment and rarely requires transfusion or surgery. Acute hemorrhagic ulceration associated with endoscopic mucosal biopsy is very rare. We report a case of a 46-year-old woman with an acute hemorrhagic gastric ulcer after an endoscopic mucosal biopsy. She has been receiving upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations annually for the gastric polyp detected 4 years ago. Endoscopic mucosal biopsy was performed without complications. Twelve hours later, she admitted to the emergency room because of melena. Emergent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed an acute huge hemorrhagic ulceration along the antrum. She was treated conservatively and discharged 5 days later.